Mike
Your motivation is somewhat different than Wayne and TEP's, but your ultimate objective is the same, preserving the Hugh Wilson myth at all costs. And in my mind you are just as guilty as those two, and in someways worse.
Restoring Cobbs Creek is your motivation. Unlike Bethpage-Black Cobbs Creek was never considered one of America's great courses. In fact it was never considered one of Philadelphia's better courses. The best thing it has going for it is its association with Hugh Wilson. His reputation is largely based upon his connection with Merion. You see the potential re-writing of Merion's history as an attack on Hugh Wilson, and indirectly an attack on Cobbs Creek. You see Macdonald & Whigham as a direct threat, and go out of your way to distort their accomplishments. You see Barker as a threat, and go out of your way to distort his accomplishments. You also exaggerate Wilson's golfing record and experience. You have no regard for historical accuracy.
Tom MacWood,
Thank you very much for introducing this topic, despite your historically and fundamentally inaccurate understanding of the role of Cobb's Creek in Philadelphia and US Public golf, as well as incorrectly speculating on what I feel and believe.
I believe that the research done primarily by Joe Bausch, Geoff Walsh, myself, and some others into the true history of Cobb's Creek provides some very instructive parallels and contrasts to the subject at hand.
I had always been interested to learn more about the history of Cobb's Creek, which "myth" had stated was designed by Hugh Wilson, but which I'd never seen anything that proved that belief.
A few summers back, while also being curious about the original routing, which no one seemed to know for certain, I contacted the Hagley Museum in Delaware and through their Dallin Aerial collection they were kind enough to send me eight images from the 1920s and 1930s that clearly showed the original routing and the fact that all of the original greensites remained intact.
Excitedly, I posted those results on GCA, and thus began an almost two-year old collaborative effort by many of us interested in finding the true history of the golf course, which led to our ongoing restoration activities.
You can follow the entire investigative, collaborative discovery process right here, in the open, online at:
http://golfclubatlas.com/forum/index.php/topic,31872.0/Over the next months though a series of archived news articles that Joe Bausch was able to find, as well as some of us going to find the original source documents in the Minutes of the Golf Association of Philadelphia (which we had no idea existed or not prior to digging), as well as finding the original topographical routing of the golf course at the Archives of the Fairmount Park Commission in Philly.
Throughout this process, everything was done real-time, online, and in the sunshine of an open process.
We had no agenda to protect or preserve the Hugh Wilson "myth". When we came into it we were already aware of a rumor that it wasn't Wilson at all.
Still, we dug and dug and presented evidence as it surfaced. What did we find at the end of the day?
We found that Cobb's Creek had been designed by a GAP-appointed Committee that included Hugh Wilson, but also lesser knowns like A.H. "Ab" Smith of Huntingdon Valley, J. Franklin Meehan of North Hills, George Klauder of Aronimink, as well as the very pleasant surprise that George Crump of Pine Valley, heretofore believed to have had no other design involvement, was on both the committee to find a site for the first public course in Philadelphia, but also on the design commitee. George Thomas was also onsite during construction.
Moreover, lest you state that we have a Philadelphia bias, we also found the exciting accounts of The Old Man, Walter Travis, helping the committee in the later stages of the project.
Did we try to hide this information? Did we shut down a thread because it appeared clear that Hugh Wilson had a lot of help with Cobb's Creek?
No, we embraced it, because unlike the way you've presented my beliefs, all of the additional information we found about Cobb's Creek's creation that wasn't just about Hugh Wilson created a much richer, much more detailed tapestry and gave all of us a much clearer picture of what is now known as the Philadelphia School, which was made up of collaborative committees working for the good of the game.And ultimately, the results of our work turned into a 237-page detailed history that we put together, bound, and donated to the archives of Fairmount Park, of GAP, and of Cobb's Creek, and also provided copies to many interested observers including the USGA.
Perhaps the following editorial from the Philadelphia Press, June 4th, 1916 will give you a more accurate understanding of the thinking in Philadelphia at the time, and the expectation;
.."Many local golfers who were instrumental in having this course built are now receiving congratulations upon the successful result of their campaign. Rather, however, should they be bending their efforts towards the building of at least two more public courses. One such golf playground for a city of this size and importance in the sporting and golf world, and a city with such a great population argues a lack of energy on the part of the great body of golfers of this city and a selfish spirit."
"Many cities smaller than Philadelphia have more than one such course, while a number of cities of only a small fraction of Philadelphia's size and population have been supporting public golf for years. Only one thing makes it possible to have municipally-owned golf courses, that is the golfers. If these men do not possess the spirit and the sportsmanship to give their time and efforts towards procuring public links for their less fortunate sportsmen, then the possibility of politicians and city officials urging them is very remote."
"The present course at Cobb's Creek Park has been pronounced BY GOLF EXPERTS (caps mine) a remarkably fine course, one to test the mettle of good players, and containing every element necessary to the development of good golf players. Some of this city's leading golf men gave their time and attention to this work. The complaint, however, is that not enough have interested themselves in this important work."Tom, you seem to live in a world where more credence is given to the possibility that a foreign golf professional may have stopped in Philadelphia during a train ride to Atlanta for a day as greater design proof than the fact that reams of evidence tells us that five dedicated men spent months on the ground studying every possibility the land offered for golf, and sought out advice from others, which is the REAL model of the Philadelphia school, whether at Merion, at Pine Valley, at Aroninmink, or at Cobb's Creek.
During our research we found wonderful stories that showed that these guys were avid and sought collaboration and discussion and excellence.
Much like Macdonald did at NGLA, and probably using it as their model, these guys moved away from the old ways...this idea that through some birthright a foreign professional who could play golf well also had inherent amazing creative design abilities such that an hour or two in their presence would yield some remarkable golf course of mythologic proportions.
That was the real "myth", Tom, that all of these guys were actively dispelling.
They learned from Garden City, from Myopia, from NGLA....that to create a great golf course it took time and attention to details from people on the ground willing to undertake the work implicit in that task.